One Village Trustee in Rantoul, Illinois Proposes Pet Limits and the Banning of “Pit Bulls,” Rottweilers, and Dobermans

“A Rantoul village board member wants to ban pit bulls, Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers from the village and set limits on the number of other dogs residents will be allowed to have.

Rantoul Trustee Chuck Smith proposed the ordinance after a village inspector found 19 pit bulls inside a single family home in Rantoul.

‘I’d like to ban certain breeds and set limits on other breeds,’ Smith said on Monday. ‘We need to ban pit bulls, Rottweilers and Doberman pinschers based on the reputations of the animals, not the owners’.”

Please contact the Rantoul Mayor and Board of Supervisors here and politely inform them that breed-specific legislation in any form is unenforceable, ineffective, and, in this case, violates state law:

“(510 ILCS 5/24) (from Ch. 8, par. 374) Sec. 24. Nothing in this Act shall be held to limit in any manner the power of any municipality or other political subdivision to prohibit animals from running at large, nor shall anything in this Act be construed to, in any manner, limit the power of any municipality or other political subdivision to further control and regulate dogs, cats or other animals in such municipality or other political subdivision provided that no regulation or ordinance is specific to breed. (Source: P.A. 93 548, eff. 8 19 03).”

Also, while some cities have tried to pass breed bans in Illinois claiming exemption from the state law due to ‘home rule status,’ the constitutionality of home rule status has not been definitively determined such that municipalities can pass breed-specific legislation in disregard of state law. While matters of safety and public welfare are left to municipalities to decide for themselves, there is no credible evidence, scientific or otherwise, that any one breed is inherently vicious such that banning or restricting specific breeds in Illinois is lawful.